Directive on the legal protection of computer programs

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Flag of Europe European Union directive:
Directive 91/250/EEC

Directive on the legal protection of computer programs

Made by European Council
Made under Art. 100a
Journal reference L122, 1991-05-17, pp. 9–13
History
Made 14 May 1991
Came into force 17 May 1991
Implementation date 1 January 1993
Preparative texts
Commission proposal C91, 1989-04-12, p. 4
C320, 1990-12-20, p. 22
EESC opinion C329, 1989-12-30, p. 4
EP opinion C231, 1990-09-17, p. 78
Reports  
Other legislation
Replaces
Amends
Amended by 93/98/EEC
Replaced by
Status: Current legislation

Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs is a European Union directive in the field of copyright law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. It requires (Art. 1) that computer programs and any associated design material be protected under copyright as literary works within the sense of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.[1]

The Directive also defines the copyright protection to be applied to computer programs: the owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to authorize (Art 4):

  • the temporary or permanent copying of the program, including any copying which may be necessary to load, view or run the program;
  • the translation, adaptation or other alteration to the program;
  • the distribution of the program to the public by any means, including rental, subject to the first-sale doctrine.

However, these rights are subject to certain limitations (Art. 5). The legal owner of a program is assumed to have a licence to create any copies necessary to use the program and to alter the program within its intended purpose (e.g. for error correction). The lawful may also make a back-up copy for his or her personal use. The program may also be decompiled if this is necessary to ensure its operates with another program or device (Art. 6), but the results of the decompilation may not be used for any other purpose without infringing the copyright in the program.

The duration of the copyright was originally fixed at the life of the author plus fifty years (Art. 8), in accordance with the Berne Convention standard for literary works (Art. 7.1 Berne Convention). This has since been prolonged to the life of the author plus seventy years by the Directive harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights.[2]

Contents

[edit] Implementation

Implementation of the Directive by Member States
Austria Urheberrechtsgesetznovelle 1993, BGBl. No. 93/1993, p. 1166
Belgium Law of 30.06.1994, Moniteur Belge du 17 juillet 1994, p. 19315
Cyprus unknown
Czech Republic Law No. 121/2000 Coll. of 7 April 2000 on Copyright, Rights Related to Copyright and on the Amendment of Certain Laws
Denmark Lov No. 1010
Estonia unknown
Finland Laws Nos. 418/93 and 419/93, Finnish Official Journal of 1993-05-12, p. 415
France Loi no. 94-361 du 10 mai 1994, JORF du 11 mai 1994, p. 6863
Germany Zweites Gesetz zur Änderung des Urheberrechtsgesetzes vom 9. Juni 1993, BGBl I p. 910
Greece Law No. 2121/93, Official Journal A No. 25
Hungary unknown
Ireland European Communities (Legal Protection of Computer Programs) Regulations, 1993 (S.I. No. 26 of 1993)
Italy Decreto Legislativo No. 518
Latvia Autortiesību likums (2000-04-06)
Lithuania Autorių teisių ir gretutinių teisių įstatimas N. VIII-1185 (1999-05-18)
Luxemburg Loi du 24 avril 1995 modifiant la loi du 29 mars 1972 sur le droit d'auteur en ce qui concerne la protection juridique des programmes d'ordinateur, Mémorial, p. 944
Malta Copyright Act, 2000
Netherlands Wet van 07.07.1994, Stb. JS-1994, p. 521
Poland Ustawa z 04.02.1994 o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych, art. 74-77, Dz.U. 1994 nr 24 poz. 83
Portugal Decreto-Lei n. 252/94, de 20 de Octubro de 1994, Diáro da República - I Série A, no. 243 de 20 de Octubro de 1994, p. 6374
Slovakia Copyright Act of 1997-12-05 (No. 383/1997)
Slovenia Zakon o avtorskih in sorodnih pravicah (1995-03-30)
Spain Ley 16/1993, de 23 de diciembre, de incorporación al Derecho español de la Directiva 91/250/CEE, de 14 de mayo, sobre la protección jurídica de programas de ordenador
Sweden Act No. 1687/92
United Kingdom Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992 No. 3233

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^  Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
  2. ^  Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights, OJ no. L290 of 1993-11-24, p. 9.

[edit] External links